sorry, but i just have hard time believing this is a stock car.. My m3 has a lot more body roll than this. This guy does have a lot of balls to push it like that in damp weather, I've seen way too many accidents to risk my baby like that. I have 600hp M3, with NT01's, and I turn around 8 flat, and trust me, it looks a lot more dramatic than this (stock EDC).

A friend of mine drove 8:20 with a very near stock E30 320iS. I think the M135i was holding back quite a lot in all the scary places, and had plenty of margins.

Compare the driving style to this very good driver going safely on the limit:

Super nice exhaust tone and that acceleration to 260 km/h is on par with F10 M5 or something like that. Having said that, power and straight line speed is one thing and on-track behaviour is another. I remember there was a special gathering of German tuner prepped 1Ms by one of the German auto magazine's last year, tuned cars were all between 400 to 450 ps level, and there were chassis upgrades too, a total of 5 or 6 of them and the stock car for comparison. The track lap times were absurdly close to stock car to everyone's surprise. And they were all quite expensive offers.

What I want to remind is it's all about the balance between engine and chassis, a good car is an integral unit. This one sure would do a faster lap everywhere but probably not as much as one would like/expect to see.

here is one of my "slow" laps, with some traffic... you can shave some time off for that and the screaming GF, but I'm at around 8flat.

I'd say that qualifies as A LOT of slow traffic. :-)

Nice when some of the slow cars indicate to the left side when you catch up with them, so you have to pass on the wrong side. I think you should be going to track days at the Ring instead. Then you can do complete laps, and there are not so many slow cars blocking you all over the track.

Nice when some of the slow cars indicate to the left side when you catch up with them, so you have to pass on the wrong side. I think you should be going to track days at the Ring instead. Then you can do complete laps, and there are not so many slow cars blocking you all over the track.

I thought those were really expensive (400 euro per session?)... Plus, I would really need big big brakes, i'd prob hit 180-190mph on that straight.

Guys, as a few alluded to, this is NOT a full circuit and is atleast 20-30 seconds from a full lap. So we are talking a 820 on a dry day and a 830 or more on this wet track if a full lap was done.

There is more than a 10 second difference between a dry and a damp lap, and it also helps quite a bit to drive without having to pass slower cars. I still think the car can do 8 miinutes flat on a complete lap with a guy like H.J.Stuck behind the wheel.

There is more than a 10 second difference between a dry and a damp lap, and it also helps quite a bit to drive without having to pass slower cars. I still think the car can do 8 miinutes flat on a complete lap with a guy like H.J.Stuck behind the wheel.

I doubt if it could do 8 mins dead in the dry for a full lap,the CSL is over 200kgs lighter on cups and 35bhp more and that did 7.52 driven by Hvs from sport auto.

I doubt if it could do 8 mins dead in the dry for a full lap,the CSL is over 200kgs lighter on cups and 35bhp more and that did 7.52 driven by Hvs from sport auto.

+1, that was with track tires on the CSL. I think driving in the video is impressive and don't think that can be bettered too much, he seems to know the track like his own backyard. Traffic is also very minimal there, I did not see any time he lost due to traffic, maybe a second

This is an impressive car, performing beyond its weight but there are no factual base to make guesses that it should be doing better than a E92 M3 with Competition Package or a 1M. Getting very close to those is respectable enough and with a few mods it can post better numbers than a stock 1M or M3 for instance, what's to complain, that it is not a sub 8 minutes car on Nurburgring?!

Also it needs to be kept in mind that M135i comes with Michelin Pilot Super Sports which perform way better than most if not all street tires, especially so vs. PS2s that was used for M3s and for 1M. I personally know what kind of a difference PSS can make especially on less than perfect surfaces. Apples to apples, same tires same driver same day on the same track a M135i does not have the artillery to post better lap times than a E92 M3 or a 1M, but I think it is comparable to E46 M3 or Z4 and Z3 M Coupes which are all among the greatest BMWs in my book. This is how I see it.

sorry, but i just have hard time believing this is a stock car.. My m3 has a lot more body roll than this. This guy does have a lot of balls to push it like that in damp weather, I've seen way too many accidents to risk my baby like that. I have 600hp M3, with NT01's, and I turn around 8 flat, and trust me, it looks a lot more dramatic than this (stock EDC).

Ring time is an error-post for M135i, probably will be deleted or reposted soon, since 1M's time is a full lap time (usually adds 25 to 30 seconds on BTG time) by Sport Auto's Horst v. S. 2011 Super Test lap, while M135i did a BTG time and both the driver and conditions are all subject to discussion. The other lap times in the above quoted comparison are maybe more apples to apples at least on paper. Like someone else posted before, next month when Sport Auto publishes its Super Test for the M135i we will have a much better and comprehensive idea. I would love to read details of that test. I still keep the issue including 1M test

I believe M135i 8 auto is not any slower than a 1M on straights at least for the first 100 km/h, may be even ahead for the first couple of seconds, till 60 or 80 km/h due to gearbox/tire-traction advantage. However, I also predict that a stock 1M, especially with the same tires of M135i, should post better lap times on any track, given the conditions are same/similar. I would say the new car is still seems to provide at the very least 90 % of the 1M for just 75 % of 1M price tag, and has similar tuning potential, also more practical and comfortable one so it is really a better bang for the buck.

The real and in fact only relevant question (for me) that I would like to have an answer is how much fun it is vs a 1M? Guess we need to wait for someone who owns and drives both to review it, or a decent magazine like EVO hopefully makes a comparison test.

+1, that was with track tires on the CSL. I think driving in the video is impressive and don't think that can be bettered too much, he seems to know the track like his own backyard. Traffic is also very minimal there, I did not see any time he lost due to traffic, maybe a second

This is an impressive car, performing beyond its weight but there are no factual base to make guesses that it should be doing better than a E92 M3 with Competition Package or a 1M. Getting very close to those is respectable enough and with a few mods it can post better numbers than a stock 1M or M3 for instance, what's to complain, that it is not a sub 8 minutes car on Nurburgring?!

Also it needs to be kept in mind that M135i comes with Michelin Pilot Super Sports which perform way better than most if not all street tires, especially so vs. PS2s that was used for M3s and for 1M. I personally know what kind of a difference PSS can make especially on less than perfect surfaces. Apples to apples, same tires same driver same day on the same track a M135i does not have the artillery to post better lap times than a E92 M3 or a 1M, but I think it is comparable to E46 M3 or Z4 and Z3 M Coupes which are all among the greatest BMWs in my book. This is how I see it.

My stock time was 08:35, but back then it was only my 20th lap around the ring. I believe M3's record is like low 8 (8:05 is it?) and that is on sport cup tires. supercharger improved my time, and so did the semi slicks, but i can't say by how much, as I haven't gotten a clean lap. Usually there is like an accident, or too many cars, or rain, or UFO landing, or zombies... always something

I am not taking away from the driver, but there are certain places where he did not take best lines (due to weather maybe?), so I think in this tempo he could have gotten better times if it was dry. Come on, let's be real now, it's as fast as M3??? That's why i say it's not stock. He possibly has a tune, or/and some suspension work, or tires that we don't know about. Look at my vid, you can hear my NT01's sing in some turns, this guy doesn't even make a sound on stock tires.... has very little body roll too. He doesn't jump in places that I do (I usually have a lift off in certain parts of the track). So you telling me this 135m has better suspension than my EDC? If so, then bmw screwed the m3 owners.
I know ppl with track spec E9x m3's, the best time i heard of was like 7:30, no interior, durreza's (semi slick), full kw suspension, etc... on a normal day these guys are running right around 8... u telling me this stock little guy just goes out and does 8:05 in damp?? My buddy with tuned GT3 997 does 8:05 with some sweat (not best time, but very fast time), where most GT3RS's run around 7:50 with a good driver.